Insanity's Crescendo
by Osani
Summary: A ghost from Snapes' past returns to seek his assistance. Set before the 'Potter' Years, after the fall of Voldemort. OFC.


Disclaimer: I own nothing save for Dragosani.

Insanity's Crescendo

Chapter One

The clouds moved in quickly, shadowing the day and allowing the night to creep in as rain assaulted the window panes high above the private office of Severus Snape. He had just started grading the stacks of parchment that lay in neat piles upon his desk and could already feel the night turning for the worse. It had been his fifth year as Potions Master and he had tired long ago of the poor quality of work that had been produced by his students. With each new term, he held a glimmer of hope for some potential to pass through the doors of Hogwarts, but the glimmer grew duller with each passing term. Even his beloved Slytherin house had failed to meet his expectations this year, to his immense disappointment.

Severus placed his quill down and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, still hoping for at least one passing grade out of the stack. After another hour of frustration, he left the pile of not yet graded papers and went to pour himself a generous glass of Firewhiskey to ease his troubled mind. He paced in front of the unlit fireplace with the glass in his hand, trying to clear his thoughts.

There was only one way to save his sanity tonight. Severus walked to his ceiling-high bookcase and tapped his wand six times on six specific books. After a brief pause, the bookcase slid aside and a wooden door behind it swung open on its own. Behind it was a stone staircase that spiraled into the darkness below. Halfway down to his private lab, Severus stopped. He walked back up the steps, grabbed the opened bottle of Firewhiskey, and descended again with a glass in one hand and bottle in the other.

Severus had walked halfway across his lab when the noise of a cabinet door slamming gave him pause. He hadn't bothered to light the torches or his wand before because he knew his lab well enough to traverse it by memory, but now his wand was drawn in an instant.

'_Expelliarmus_,' Snape hissed into the dark, hoping to surprise his unwanted visitor. When nothing happened, he hissed '_Stupify_.' But whatever was moving continued to do so.

To his right he heard the laughter of a woman he didn't recognize. 'My, my, haven't we gotten slow over the years.' She continued to laugh in a light, almost childish, manner.

Severus could stand the mockery no more; a flick of his wand illuminated the torches, and light danced upon the female figure beside him. He raised his wand higher as he appraised her. She looked around eighteen, with hair as black as his, though not as greasy. There was something familiar about her, but he was too alarmed at the intrusion to bother placing it. She held no wand, and was most likely not a student due to the lack of robes, and the fact that he had never laid eyes upon her in his class. He saw the smirk in her eyes before he saw it on her mouth.

'You know that I never bothered with wands, my dear Severus. Are you done staring yet?'

. His face twitched in anger, then immediately softened when he realized who was standing before him. He knew of only one witch with powers so great that they were unable to be tamed by wand. But she had gone missing several years back, and was believed to be dead. The woman in front of him did not resemble her in anyway either, though looks, he had learned, have always been deceiving. He blinked as if to awaken himself from dream, not trusting his eyes.

'Elizabeth?'

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Authors Note: A bit short, but it's my first attempt at this, so reviews would be appreciated. Please be brutally honest. I'm really attempting to stay away from the Mary Sue-ism, though I can't always control the demon in my head that begs to be released. I suppose we will soon find out though. Chapters two and three written (much longer I might add) and should be posted eventually with the most appreciated help of my beta reader. What would we do without them?.


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